Could consciousness have evolved as a countermeasure the phenotype could use against the tyranny of the genes?
Or is consciousness just another tool of the genes (intelligence / free will as just a puppet government ultimately controlled by the the genes following the agenda items the genes care about most: survival, reproduction)?
If consciousness allows us to override our genes then maybe we have free will. It would not be true freedom, but rather freedom to choose pleasure, happiness, virture, etc., and freedom to forego reproduction, survival...
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
model
Consciousness involves a special kind of reduction of the complexity of the outside world.
It's as if the brain creates a theater in order to see its options. This leads to both consciousness and the illusion of free will. The two are linked.
Cartesian theater revisited: the brain makes its own model of reality, a simplified one.
The sheer complexity of sensory input, memory, decisionmaking, etc., creates the need for a simplified "virtual reality" of manageable complexity. We can weigh 4 options, but not 40,000 options.
Consciousness emerges from one part of the brain contemplating another part of the brain that is its own creation, its own compilation. This creation is a simplified model of the world, the person's options, including relevant memories. This model is of manageable size and is useable to another part of the brain.
The remembered present. We don't see the chair. One part of our brain that needs to solve the seating problem sees a model created in another part of the brain of the chair.
Infinite regress?
Where does the experience come from? From the interaction of more than one area of the brain. Does that solve the mystery?
Mirror neurons: the muscles that move our arm are activated when we see someone else move their arm. This is how the model is created/works. A set of mirror neurons that mimic reality in the brain based on experience.
We move our arm. Arm moving neurons fire. We see someone move their arm. Same arm moving neurons fire. We feel thirsty. Brain needs to make body drink. Brain fires arm moving neurons to reach glass of water. But our brain does not find the glass of water in the world (too complex). It finds the glass of water in the mini-model of reality in our brain. The useable model that just contains what is relevant to us.
It's as if the brain creates a theater in order to see its options. This leads to both consciousness and the illusion of free will. The two are linked.
Cartesian theater revisited: the brain makes its own model of reality, a simplified one.
The sheer complexity of sensory input, memory, decisionmaking, etc., creates the need for a simplified "virtual reality" of manageable complexity. We can weigh 4 options, but not 40,000 options.
Consciousness emerges from one part of the brain contemplating another part of the brain that is its own creation, its own compilation. This creation is a simplified model of the world, the person's options, including relevant memories. This model is of manageable size and is useable to another part of the brain.
The remembered present. We don't see the chair. One part of our brain that needs to solve the seating problem sees a model created in another part of the brain of the chair.
Infinite regress?
Where does the experience come from? From the interaction of more than one area of the brain. Does that solve the mystery?
Mirror neurons: the muscles that move our arm are activated when we see someone else move their arm. This is how the model is created/works. A set of mirror neurons that mimic reality in the brain based on experience.
We move our arm. Arm moving neurons fire. We see someone move their arm. Same arm moving neurons fire. We feel thirsty. Brain needs to make body drink. Brain fires arm moving neurons to reach glass of water. But our brain does not find the glass of water in the world (too complex). It finds the glass of water in the mini-model of reality in our brain. The useable model that just contains what is relevant to us.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
present tense
Consciousness is needed to create a constant "present tense" (virtual reality?) for the brain/body so we can contemplate the past and the future without getting lost in time. We do lose consciousness when remembering (vividly), planning (intensely) or dreaming. The "present tense" pulls us back to the body's reality. Can we really thing about the past and future while being in the present? or do we go back and forth quickly?
Art, movies, novels, music, work, travel, TV, divertissement generally: escape from the present.
Art, movies, novels, music, work, travel, TV, divertissement generally: escape from the present.
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